Enchantment
by Pinkted
Summary: A Kingdom lost, the heirs forgotten. King Patrick rules Haven, but who really should, young Laney has lost so much already how will she find her brother, her true love and how will she save the Kingdom of Haven?
1. Prologue

Soft rays of moonlight danced across the calm waters, silhouettes of children played beneath the beaming moon. The sky had set in a wonderful display of colour, but it deceived the world, for what was about to happen would be the most terrible…

Over the years the secret was kept, everyone held it close to their heart as if it would escape and cause great pain. The Queen of Haven was as beautiful as an angel, her kingdom shone of brilliance and love for all of her reign. The Queen had lived a short life, but she had lived. She had mothered two children a boy and a girl with a wonderful man, King Henry, The only terrible thing that Queen Gabriella had done in her life was leave it too soon. She had died over 16 years ago leaving a newborn baby and a young child motherless, King Henry had tried hard to care for his beloved children but he had found it hard after his wife's death, he died just 2 years after Queen Gabriella, many said of a broken heart. Their two orphaned children Prince Eric and Princess Larine were left in the care of a stranger, alone and confused, they forgot who they were and were also separated to live separate lives unknowing of their true identities.

Prince Eric became a son of a blacksmith and lived in the town of Devin in the outskirts of Haven, Haven ceased to be a heavenly kingdom as Gabriella's brother took control of the Kingdom, and the true heirs to the throne were forgotten and buried for almost twenty years. Eric lived with his false mother, father and 5 brothers; his family was extremely kind except for the fact that Eric's true identity or name had never been revealed to him, Eric had become to be known as Hadley Smith, the son of a blacksmith.

Princess Larine also had her name changed but to Laney when she had joined the Denser family who lived in the heart of Haven. Laney had lived her life as a servant in the household she was there to care for the family, her mother, father, uncle and two sisters. Laney lived her life grateful for what she had been blessed with, she had seen other girls with a much worse life and even though she had to cook, clean and care for the household and grounds she received in turn a home, a family and freedom.

For little over 16 years Hadley and Laney lived away from the royal family and away from each other, they believed to be dead lost in the great siege of the tower of Kenwick, and all this time their uncle led the kingdom into wars and destruction, the Kingdom had become to crumble beneath his reign.

This story is not how this world came to be, but how it would be taken back, and delivered into the rightful hands of the true heirs of Haven.


	2. An old aquaintance

The yearly carnival came every year but the last few years had been missed because of the Great War between Haven and Baneden. But this year it was coming and everyone was excited, the street swam with a buzz as everyone prepared for the festival. It was made even move special by the peace treaty which would be made in the height of the celebrations before the great ball at the grand palace. Laney was especially excited because everyone was invited to the carnival and to the ball, no one could stop her dressing up and dancing, in all her sixteen years she had never danced with a man and hardly ever spoken to one, to her they were almost a myth. It was two weeks to the grand festival and everyone was arriving in the heart of Haven including the King August of Baneden and His son Prince Ryder, they had arrived early to get the agreements underway with the neighbouring kingdom. The kingdom was still in ruins but with all the decorations added it was looking splendid, the old brick walls were covered in flowers of every colour, they hanged elegantly over the sides of walls and the leaves swayed softly in the summer breeze. The floors had been swept of dust and cleared of all debris the only thin that remained on the roads were the stalls of the peasants who came to sell their products and belongings. King Patrick was a crude and tight fisted leader, he made the peasants pay for the use of his roads and would give up their place if they missed an hour but still make them pay for it. He had scouts everywhere, they tried to disguise themselves as nobles or peasants but their stares and royal dress gave them away. King Patrick had changed the royal colours to red and gold after he had taken over reign, no one could remember what the colours of Haven were before his reign. Hayden had arrived in the capital of Haven just that morning, he and his elder brother Paul had come to Hayden to witness the festival and attend the great ball in two weeks time. Hayden and Paul's family were well known in society, their father had helped rebuild King Patrick's castle when he first took over the kingdom, he spent almost all the kingdom's money on the castle. Hayden had never visited the capital of Haven before but Paul had been before with his father on a business expedition over 4 years ago.

"Hayden, before we go to the castle can I go visit an old friend, I haven't seen her in over 4 years." Hayden stared at his brother,

"How'd I know there'd be a girl involved?" Hayden smiled at his brother, mockingly; Paul smiled back and told his brother that it was just an old friend he wished to visit.

"What way?" Paul led the way, leading down a number of small alleyways, Hayden began to get lost, every house, and every shop looked the same. Paul led the way out into a garden square the light cascaded through the trees shedding light on the beautiful summer flowers. The sun rays made Hayden's blonde hair shine even brighter then it already was, Paul's hair was a complete contrast to his brother's as were their personalities. Hayden began to follow his brother again, it took until Hayden ran into the back of his brother before he noticed he had stopped, he looked at his brother's deep blue eyes, he was smiling, Hayden followed his brother's gaze to a small bookshop across the road. The bookstore looked old and run down, the old wooden tables outside were covered in books; a young girl was stacking more and more books onto the table. A strong breeze caused a glass ball to roll off the table; the breeze caused the leaved to rustle and her brown hair to blow. The ball rolled down the coble street landing at Hayden's feet, he bent down to pick it up, when he looked back up in the direction of the bookshop and looked for the girl, and she was gone. She was stood directly in front of them; Hayden placed the crystal ball in her hand. She pushed her hair behind her ears revealing her deep blue eyes, her lips slowly curved up as her gaze rested on Paul's face. Hayden was transfixed by her beauty; she looked so familiar to him as if he had met her before.

"Hello sirs." She curtsied low and almost sarcastically.

Paul smiled and bowed in turn,

"Hello Laney." Hayden was shocked when she flung her arms around his brother and he hugged her in turn.

"It's fantastic to see you again"

"You too, I'd like you to meet my brother, Hayden." Laney turned her gaze upon him, she smiled and he found himself smiling back and taking her hand.

"It's nice to make your acquaintance sir."

The day passed by so quickly, Hayden and Laney talked for hours in the bookshop, and they became fast friends, the musky smell of the books was very relaxing and all of them soon fell asleep. The owner of the bookshop fell asleep also, his snoring echoed throughout the store, the sun was high in the sky, it was noon, and the sound of hooves on the coble streets woke Paul and Hayden up. Paul looked at Laney as the door opened and two gentlemen walked in, Hayden shook the owners shoulder waking him up with a loud grunt that echoed throughout the bookstore waking up Laney in the back store where Paul had carried her. Laney quickly smoothed down her navy blue dress trying to disguise the creases, she slowly brushed her long wavy brown hair, revealing blonde highlights, and she took one last look in the large oak crowned mirror and left the back store to greet the new customers. The dust had been disturbed when the two gentlemen had entered the shop, the shop door was still open letting the sunlight escape the wilderness into this long forgotten tomb in which she worked. The sun hit Laney sending her vision a pure white she held her hand up to see, but it took a while for her vision to fully repair, the two customers were both gentlemen in very expensive looking clothes. The eldest who looked around 50 years old was wearing a short tunic with gold inlay and velvet purple material, his hair had already turned grey but you could still see traces of his pitch black hair which had probably left him when he was still quite young. The youngest of the two was also wearing some very expensive looking clothes, he wore a pair of beige coloured trousers in the style of the Kingdom and also a white and purple coloured tunic with gold inlay but what made the gentleman so captivating was his facial features. He had dark brown hair, darker then the furthest depths of the great sky, his eyes were as dark as the deepest ocean, and he was extremely handsome. It took a while for Laney to notice she was staring, after clearing her thoughts,

"May I help you gentlemen?" she asked this question very politely and strangely, she could tell this by the looks on Paul's and Hadley's faces. The older man smiled at his son for he was staring at the young girl, his eyes transfixed with her exquisite features,

"Yes my girl please, I was hoping if you had a book about the history of Haven?"

At that moment if the shop wasn't already quiet the noise would have ceased to exist entirely, Laney looked confused as did Paul and Hadley. The two gentlemen were also confused by their expressions.

"em…"

"It's ok dear, sir I have what you are looking for, but you must understand no one asks for such information anymore. Many details were lost after the revolution." The old shop owner stood tall and talked to the gentlemen with ease. Laney was astounded at her grandfather.

That evening she left the bookstore and was greeted by her sister Gabby, Gabby was a few years older then Laney, Gabby and Laney were best friends as well as sisters. Gabby had dark hair and rosy red cheeks, as a child Gabby was called Snow White and Laney was called Cinderella, these stories had developed them into the people they were, they refused to believe there lives were mapped out in these age old stories.

"Hi, you finished here? The celebrations have started and…" Gabby stopped as Hayden and Paul left the bookstore.

With a smile on her flushed face Laney introduced her friends to each other,

"Gabby this is Paul and Hayden, Hayden, Paul this is my sister Gabby." She watched as Hayden and Gabby exchanged greetings, Gabby looked mesmerised.

Paul took Laney's arm and led her down the poorly lit street, only following the noise of the happy celebrations. Paul had been shocked when he'd seen Laney again she had grown so much, she was getting prettier and prettier everyday, he quickly dismissed these thoughts, Laney was like a sister to him.

He watched as her face lit up as they entered the main court of Haven, her small figure was almost swept away by the sea of people, swarms of children buzzed about as strong music played, the city looked amazing.

The two gentlemen left the bookstore thanking the owner gratefully; they walked a while down the same pathway that Laney, Paul, Gabby and Hayden had taken only an hour or so before.

"So did you find what you were looking for?" the man looked towards the elder gentleman,

"Father! Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Oh, sorry, actually yes and a little more then I wanted to know. This Kingdom has a strange past." He looked to his son, his expression expressed great sadness.

"And you still want me to marry the princess of Haven?" he kept his eyes on the cobbled street, not looking at his father or into his grey eyes.

"You are the Prince of Baneden, to be crowned the true Prince you have to be married." It was the King's time not to look at his son or his deep eyes, so much like his mothers' was.

"It's just perfect isn't it, you get to marry off your son and make him the true heir to the throne and you also get to sign this peace treaty with a holy joining."

He took a moment for it to settle in and finally said before his father got a word in,

"You've never asked me what I've wanted have you! Not since Nicholas died."

His soon turned and headed down a side passage as fast as he could, it began at a steady pace but he soon broke into a run all he could hear was what he had just said he missed his father's shouts.

"Ryder, RYDER! Please son!"

Ryder headed down the first street he came across, he followed the noise, tuning down street after street, passing old wooden houses, new wooden houses, stone houses, every shape and every size, they towered high above him like his father had done his entire life. He approached the festival, the place was mesmerising, and lights shone high, banners hung across the walls, people gathered and swam all over the large court, he had passed through this court this morning it had been empty and dull, but now it was completely transformed. Ryder let himself be carried away by the swarms of people, he felt intoxicated, the joy and excitement of it all, Ryder had attended festivals of celebration in Baneden but they were always so controlled and civilised, they always missed the fun. He walked, ran, jogged and danced among the crowds, turning, swirling; the smell of jasmine filled his senses, the full moon made him wild. A sudden shout brought him almost back to reality, and a falling body which he caught knocked the final blow.

"Are you alright ma'am?" he looked down at the figure in his arms she was, she looked… she was the girl from the shop. She smiled,

"Yes thank you, you are very kind sir." She slowly picked herself up straightening down her dress and tucking her hair behind her ears revealing pairings. A coy smile escaped upon him,

"My name is Ryder." He stared dazed at her, she looked a little shocked, even more so then she had when he had caught her,

"Thank you" she thought about what she had just said, what should she had said, she knew he was noble and would not want to converse with a commoner such as herself, but he was in the court yard and he had given her his name.

"May I ask your name miss?" he moved closer as he spoke these words.

"Oh, oh I'm sorry; my name is Laney, Laney Denser. Again thank you sir."

She turned to walk away but before Rydercould grab her attention she was lost among the waves of people.


End file.
